Nokia Music for India has just got Mix Radio and guess which Asha phones will be coming pre-loaded with it? The 305, 310, 311 and 308 members in the Asha series which are currently shipping in the country, will arrive with the service out of the box. The facility is free to use, though data charges may apply depending on the plan the concerned handset is paired with.
For those who don’t know, Nokia Music is an app which lets people organize their tracks and buy songs from the online store. After a free trial period that follows when the application is downloaded, users can listen to just 30 seconds of an audio snippet of music they haven’t bought. A Gig Finder feature has also been incorporated into the tool, meaning discovering concerts, buying tickets and even finding the venue on Here Maps are part of the package.
Previously, those who had an Asha phone with the aforementioned app, also enjoyed access to over 8 million tracks through the Finnish company’s online store hawking them. The introduction of Mix Radio means that users can now look forward to more than 15 million songs which will be part of mixes carefully curated by big names in the industry. The number of such playlists available with the service crosses 150. Out of these, up to 4 mixes can be downloaded and listened to when offline.
The convalescing mobile company has been paying attention to every segment of the market in an effort to give players like Apple and Samsung a run for their money. It makes sense for it to concentrate even on the lower end department since a consumer base that matures with a brand may have loyalty to offer in exchange for the attention. And the Asha handsets seem to be selling quite well in the low- to mid-range group.
Nokia has not only been wooing Asha users with Mix Radio of late. In the past, we have also seen the 501 getting Here Maps Beta. And before that, the company brought the Mail for Exchange app to a few devices in the lineup. Windows Phone hand-me-downs or not, some good will is surely flying in the direction of the brand.